Absconding IPS officer suspended

Inspector general of police (IGP) Gautam Cheema, who is facing charges of abduction and molestation and is absconding, was on Saturday suspended by the Punjab government to ensure free and fair probe into the cases registered against him.

Inspector general of police (IGP) Gautam Cheema, who is facing charges of abduction and molestation and is absconding, was on Saturday suspended by the Punjab government to ensure free and fair probe into the cases registered against him.

"Gautam Cheema, IPS, inspector general of police, is placed under suspension with immediate effect," a spokesman of Punjab's home affairs and justice department said here.

He said during the suspension period, Cheema's headquarter would be the office of director general of police, Punjab here.

On September 2, Cheema and his two accomplices were booked for allegedly molesting a Mohali resident.

This was the second FIR lodged by Punjab police against the officer. In the first case he was booked for allegedly kidnapping a proclaimed offender.

A woman, residing in Sector 70 of the city, had alleged that Cheema along with Ajay Chowdhary and some unidentified men had come to her house on the night of March 20 and molested her. He also threatened her and her husband.

Her husband, Sumedh Gulati, who was once reportedly a friend of Cheema, had been booked by Panchkula police last month for allegedly raping a woman in a hotel. He was also wanted by Mohali and Chandigarh police in a fraud case.

Earlier, a kidnapping case was registered against Cheema on the complaint of an Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI), after he allegedly took Gulati, who was booked in a fraud case, from Phase 1 police station in Mohali.